A recent University of Colorado[1] reception to raise money for a scholarship in honor of the late Paul Sandoval[2] included Marcy and Bruce Benson[3] of CU[4]; the widow, Paula Sandovall; Gov. John Hickenlooper[5]; and Dan Theodorescu, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. (Patrick Campbell, University of Colorado)

Friends and family of the late Paul Sandoval who gathered to raise money for a scholarship in his name got a big laugh when Gov. John Hickenlooper described their encounter.

It was 2003 and Hickenlooper, a political neophyte and a brewpub pioneer, had just breezed his way into the runoff election for Denver mayor and stopped by Sandoval’s tamale shop. Hickenlooper described the shock of seeing the “crap little office in the back of La Casita.”

“I kept thinking, ‘This is the nexus of Denver politics? This is where it happens? This is where careers and campaigns have been planned and realized?’ ” Hickenlooper said, to whoops and cheers.

But Hickenlooper said he later realized how appropriate it was that the man “who opened the doors of opportunity for the next generation,” the king of the “artful compromise,” didn’t operate out of a fancy office.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, with Andrea Sandoval and Amanda Sandoval, daughters of the late Paul Sandoval, at an event hosted by the University of Colorado Cancer Center to raise money for a scholarship in their father’s honor. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

A scholarship was established in his name for a graduate student at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he received treatment. Either one $20,000 or two $10,000 scholarships are expected to be awarded each academic year.

The university last week hosted a reception to honor Sandoval and raise money for the scholarship. University President Bruce Benson and Sandoval go back decades. When Benson ran for governor on the GOP ticket in 1994, Sandoval, a die-hard Democrat, endorsed him. Likewise, Sandoval backed Benson for the CU president’s job.

“I think this scholarship is a very fitting way to honor Paul,” Benson said, noting it it helps fight “this dreaded disease” while recognizing Sandoval’s contributions to Colorado.